Tripura: Cornered Extremists Indulge In Mass Killing

UTTERLY frustrated at the gradual but consistent shrinkage of their cadre and support base, the extremist secessionists of Tripura have once again carried out a savage attack on CPI(M) supporters on the night of September 24, killing a total of eight persons.

All the victims were innocent agricultural labourers belonging to three CPI(M)-supporting families in the village of Hazaripara under Shantinagar Gaon Sabha, Khowai, West Tripura. While seven persons died on the spot, one person succumbed to injuries while being taken to the G B Pant hospital in Agartala. Among the dead were five women and a boy aged 12 years. Another woman aged about 42 years and a boy aged 8 years are struggling for life in the hospital. The family of Amulya Debnath was completely annihilated in this gruesome attack of the extremist who are dwindling in number in encounters and desertion.

According to the villagers, at around 1 30 a.m. in the dark of night, the extremists who split themselves into two groups, attacked the nearby SPOs (Special Police Officer) camp and a nearby Tilla which housed these unfortunate three families. The extremists indiscriminately sprayed bullets on the deeply sleeping inmates from outside. As the SPOs were retaliating the extremists by counter-firing, there was none to come forward to rescue the victims on the other side. The manner in which the extremists committed this massacre establishes that it was a pre-planned, pre-designed mass killing with a view to create panic among the people.

The CPI(M) Tripura state secretariat in a statement strongly condemned this killing of innocent people and expressed deep sympathy for the survivors of the victim families. It stated that this was a pre-planned provocative action of the extremists aiming to disturb peace and tranquility in the state on the eve of Durga Puja festival.

Ceaseless political-ideological campaign among the people, both tribals and nontribals, while simultaneously intensifying the combing operations of the police and security forces has resulted in effectively cornering the extremists. Many youth, who were disillusioned with this path, surrendered to the police deserting the extremists’ camp along with arms and ammunition. The anti-extremist operations of the security forces also registered spectacular success wherein many extremists were killed and a good number of them arrested. The CPI(M) statement noted that the tribal people are asserting themselves by denying to pay the extremists any subscriptions.

The CPI(M) state secretariat has called upon all peace-loving people of of Tripura to join the protest demonstrations to be held on September 26 through out the state against this mass killing. It also urged the state government to further strengthen the security net to nab the killer gang and called upon the people to extend effective cooperation to the security forces in their operations.

The Tripura Left Front committee in a separate statement condemned this carnage and expressed sympathy for the survivors who lost their relatives. It also called upon the people to join the protest rallies to condemn this gruesome mass killing by the secessionist extremists.  (INN)